Chris Camozzi Has Nothing to Lose Against Jacare Souza at UFC on FX 8

Despite two opponent changes, Chris Camozzi is excited about facing Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza on May 18 in the co-main event of the UFC on FX 8 fight card in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil.

Camozzi originally stepped in for the injured CB Dollaway to face Cezar Ferreira. Ferreira then had to pull out of the fight due to injury and Camozzi was lined up against Rafael Natal. He was later removed from the bout with Natal when Ronaldo Souza’s opponent, Constantinos Philippou, was forced off the card due to injury. Camozzi was then moved up the card to the co-main event against Souza, and that’s where it stands today.

“Obviously the last change they gave me was a step up on the card to the co-main event, so of course I can't complain about that. I'm getting the opportunity to fight a legend in Jacare, which I'm really excited about,” Camozzi told MMAWeekly.com content partner Knockout Radio on a recent episode.

“I've always been all about fighting guys that I've seen on TV or that I've followed throughout the sport, match-ups that excite me, and this is one of them,” he added.

The 26-year-old is on a four-fight winning streak and had been asking for a big name fight.

“They just gave me a big opportunity that I've been asking for, so it didn't matter who it was, I would have said yes,” said Camozzi.

While his opponent has changed, Camozzi doesn’t feel the game plan changes much at all.

“The game plan stays quite a bit the same. There's a few changes as far as some of the things he does that I think I can capitalize on, but other than that everything has stayed a lot the same. I'm more focused on what I'm going to do rather than what he's going to do or what I think he's going to do,” he said.

Camozzi is prepared for wherever the fight may go, but would rather keep it standing against the world class jiu-jitsu practitioner.

“Every fight I go into I always plan on striking. I would say it is important to keep it off the mat, but I'm not going to have that in my head where I'm panicking or anything,” he said. “Defensively, I feel pretty comfortable. Obviously, we all know, no matter how much jiu-jitsu I do, I'm not going to be better than him at jiu-jitsu, but this is MMA, so there's a lot more variables in there. I feel I'll be comfortable anywhere it goes, but again I have my game plan and I'm sure he has his.”

Comozzi believes he’s in the ideal situation and that all the pressure is on Souza, who is widely considered the favorite heading into the bout.

“He's ranked higher than me. This is a fight where not that many people are giving me a chance of winning. So I go in there and fight with nothing to lose and those are the most dangerous fights for guys like Jacare to take,” said Camozzi.

UFC on FX 8 is headlined by the final Strikeforce middleweight titleholder Luke Rockhold and former UFC champion Vitor Belfort. The main card will broadcast live on FX with preliminary action airing on Fuel TV and streaming of Facebook.